L'ultimo capodanno

Like a good panettone, but not a cine-panettone, is this unfortunate film by Marco Risi: The Last New Year. To be seen or reviewed for several interesting reasons: it is a tragicomic comedy with grotesque implications, a genre in which few Italic directors have ventured; it differs greatly from the film proposals of the period; it was an experiment by the director, who had distinguished himself, in his previous works, for the inconvenience of little treated social themes, which he wrote together with the pulp-writer Ammaniti from whose novel it was based; the production far exceeded the initial budget also for the use of effective special and digital effects that were little used until that moment; the state of acting grace of all the protagonists, including Bellucci who shows, in addition to her beauty, that she knows how to act when she wants and the presence of the singer Adriano Pappalardo (Mastiff of God) is also curious. The film had an unfortunate process, as it was said, because for a bad promotion the film failed at the box office, inducing the director to retire him.

Dino Risi has been acknowledged as the man who most contributed to the creation of the cinematic comedy "all'italiana". His son Marco goes beyond any recognition of the traditional Italian comedy in this tale of an apocalyptic New Year's eve, where the goings get so, so out of hand that maybe your jaw will drop, or maybe not but it's still a wild and crazy party. Max Mazzotta, the actor who plays the leading character (if there is one), also appears in Renato de Maria's "Paz!", and is responsible for most of the jokes. I wasn't even looking to watch these two films, but after I did, I will look forward for future Italian movies on cable television, by different and new directors.

My favorite new year eve movie. Italian classic. Underrated.

What a crazy and funny comedy! It's almost lunatic its humor I must say! L'ULTIMO CAPODANNO fits perfectly in the traditional genre of the "comedia all'italiana", because it's so crazy, so silly, so burlesque, but so funny though, that I think it can be fairly compared to some classics of that genre!

The plot is set on a New Year's Eve, in some Rome's suburban neighborhood, and it crosses different stories and characters. It's all passed on a few hours, but the incidents are so many and so abnormal that it was, for sure, the longest and weirdest New Year's Eve, ever!

The acting in this kind of comedies is essential to achieve success, and in this particular case I think it did it, because it's great, in the traditional, expansive, clamorous and hilarious Italian way. Monica Bellucci is the most famous actress of this cast, but her performance wasn't too different from other actors. I think they all did an excellent job.

When I chose to watch this movie I was expecting something funny and entertaining, but nothing compared to this hilarious and burlesque comedy! It's great, a truly "comedia all'italiana"!

I saw that Monica Belluci was in this so I decided to give it a go. I wish I hadn't.

It's an ensemble piece with multiple storylines that all occur on New Year's Eve in the same apartment block. I think it was supposed to be a trippy comedy. Is it possible that the translation was wrong? Do the nuances of comedy mean that a subtitled language film doesn't work?

There is some good acting and some terrible overacting.

Monica Belluci is wonderful as the wife of a cheating husband who is found out in a phone call. This segment is interesting. The others seem a little lacking in direction, humour and story.